2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

How the PRSA’s Certification in Education for Public Relations Effected a Transformation
of a Private University in Argentina into a Community of Practice and
Enhanced Its Reputation
Marcelo Baró
Universidad Argentina de la Empresa
mbaro@uade.edu.ar
Background
It can be argued that Public Relations arrived in Argentina with the Spanish colonization.
The profession, however, did not really begin until the arrival of the first multinational
companies in 1910. Public Relations practitioners were mainly press agents while publicity was
used for decades to address strong national feelings and interests against foreign corporations,
especially during Peron’s ruling. It was not until the mid-50s, during a short economic boom,
that corporations started recognizing the need of better prepared professionals in Public
Relations.
At that time, several companies transferred their communications specialists to
Argentina. Others sent their brightest employees to American universities. But many, grouped in
the Cámara de Sociedades Anónimas, decided to found a university that would offer different
programs in business. With this clear mission, the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa
(UADE) was established in 1963, and a year later, it offered the first Public Relations degree in
the country. Soon, other universities followed. These Public Relations programs, though, were
not very popular for several reasons. First, privately-run universities at that time were considered
to offer a second-class education. Second, the profession was still associated with social
promoters rather that with communication specialists. And last, but more important, few were
willing to participate in public issues because of the military governments of the time.
For almost forty years, UADE has been a leader in Public Relations Education in the
country and has had about 30% of all PR students. With the consolidation of democracy and the
steep influence of globalization during the late ‘90s, the university enrollment started to rocket
and there was a real need for, on the one hand, the improvement of its structure and culture and,
on the other, for excellence in education. Foreign solutions, which were frequently promoted by
international cooperative organizations, such as UNESCO and the IMF, have already
transformed Argentina’s educational system at all levels. Some universities quickly adopted
international education standards to further improve their performance, but only a few had
realized the importance of undergoing certification processes, which are widely accepted in the
United States of America and Europe. This is indeed paradoxical as globalization began to affect
educational systems already in the 1990s, and researchers in Comparative Education and
Education Authorities have analyzed international certification processes and recommended their
implementation ever since. In Public Relations, this is particularly striking. Only UADE, out of
fifteen Argentine universities offering undergraduate studies in Public Relations, decided to
undertake the PRSA’s certification process in 2005. UADE is in fact one of two other
universities outside of the United States of America to have certified programs.
Critics argue that certification does not constitute a real transfer of creative solutions, but
merely a way to legitimize educational policies. At UADE, nonetheless, the certification has
changed the school’s culture, more specifically its Department of Public Relations, into a
community of practice. This concept is currently prevalent in several educational venues and
research contexts. Lave and Wenger (1991) defined a community of practice as
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